mySQL Sub Select needed - mysql

Question

I have three tables, libraryitems, copies and loans.
A libraryitem hasMany copies, and a copy hasMany loans.
I'm trying to get the latest loan entry for a copy only; The query below returns all loans for a given copy.
SELECT
libraryitems.title,
copies.id,
copies.qruuid,
loans.id AS loanid,
loans.status,
loans.byname,
loans.byemail,
loans.createdAt
FROM copies
INNER JOIN libraryitems ON copies.libraryitemid = libraryitems.id AND libraryitems.deletedAt IS NULL
LEFT OUTER JOIN loans ON copies.id = loans.copyid
WHERE copies.libraryitemid = 1
ORDER BY copies.id ASC, loans.createdAt DESC
I know there needs to be a sub select of some description in here, but struggling to get the correct syntax. How do I only return the latest, i.e MAX(loans.createdAt) row for each distinct copy? Just using group by copies.id returns the earliest, rather than latest entry.
Image example below:

Answer 1

in the subquery , getting maximum created time for a loan i.e. latest entry and joining back with loans to get other details.
SELECT
T.title,
T.id,
T.qruuid,
loans.id AS loanid,
loans.status,
loans.byname,
loans.byemail,
loans.createdAt
FROM
(
SELECT C.id, C.qruuid, L.title, MAX(LN.createdAt) as maxCreatedTime
FROM Copies C
INNER JOIN libraryitems L ON C.libraryitemid = L.id
AND L.deletedAt IS NULL
LEFT OUTER JOIN loans LN ON C.id = LN.copyid
GROUP BY C.id, C.qruuid, L.title) T
JOIN loans ON T.id = loans.copyid
AND T.maxCreatedTime = loans.createdAt

Answer 2

A self left join on loans table will give you latest loan of a copy, you may join the query to the other tables to fetch the desired output.
select * from loans A
left outer join loans B
on A.copyid = B.copyid and A.createdAt < B.createdAt
where B.createdAt is null;

Answer 3

This is your query with one simple modification -- table aliases to make it clearer.
SELECT li.title, c.id, c.qruuid,
l.id AS loanid, l.status, l.byname, l.byemail, l.createdAt
FROM copies c INNER JOIN
libraryitems li
ON c.libraryitemid = li.id AND
li.deletedAt IS NULL LEFT JOIN
loans l
ON c.id = l.copyid
WHERE c.libraryitemid = 1
ORDER BY c.id ASC, l.createdAt DESC ;
With this as a beginning let's think about what you need. You want the load with the latest createdAt date for each c.id. You can get this information with a subquery:
select l.copyid, max(createdAt)
from loans
group by l.copyId
Now, you just need to join this information back in:
SELECT li.title, c.id, c.qruuid,
l.id AS loanid, l.status, l.byname, l.byemail, l.createdAt
FROM copies c INNER JOIN
libraryitems li
ON c.libraryitemid = li.id AND
li.deletedAt IS NULL LEFT JOIN
loans l
ON c.id = l.copyid LEFT JOIN
(SELECT l.copyid, max(l.createdAt) as maxca
FROM loans
GROUP BY l.copyid
) lmax
ON l.copyId = lmax.copyId and l.createdAt = lmax.maxca
WHERE c.libraryitemid = 1
ORDER BY c.id ASC, l.createdAt DESC ;
This should give you the most recent record. And, the use of left join should keep all copies, even those that have never been leant.